On the opening day of the Olympics, as the flame was being lit in Sydney, the Australian high commission officials here had their hands full, lighting mock flames at various restaurants. Australian high commissioner Mr Rob Laurie inaugurated the Le Meridien fest, while his deputy, Mr Bryce Hutchesson, did the needful at the Maurya Sheraton.

My first stop was the coffee shop at Le Meridien, La Brassiere. The chef has obviously gone to great lengths to innovatively name his menu after the cities in which the Olympics have been held. And the food alongside each year, goes with that country. I opted for 1972 (Munich), Rs 300, which was typical German Schnitzel, a veal steak, which was a little tough to eat. But 1932 (Los Angeles), lobster in cream sauce flavoured with wine and cayenne pepper, baked in their shells with cheese, was simply divine. The Lighting the Flame, a Smoked Ham Starter (Rs 295), had a fine charcoal flavour.

The next halt was Maurya Sheraton Hotel, where both the Jazz Bar and thecoffee shop, Pavilion, have food festivals commemorating the spirit of Sydney 2000. The Jazz Bar has an all-Australian festival, what with Foster's beer promotion and typical Aussie specialities as snacks. I opted for the famous Aussie hops. And the snacks, dubbed Sydney Olympic Trivia, has typical Aussie food like Chicken Teriyaki and Australian Meat Pie (around Rs 300 + a bottomless glass of Foster's). The chicken was similar to our Tandoori version, while the pie was typically Brit.

The coffee shop has gone a step ahead in innovation and hosted a festival in the name of Olympic heroes, with dishes that capture the truly international Olympic spirit.

The final hurdle of this steeplechase was The Ashok's coffee shop. Here the chef has a tent card with the Olympic specials. I tried the Mexican Hot Pot Soup (Rs 150), which was a little sweet considering the Mexicans' penchant for fiery jalapenos. But the Southern Chicken had two huge cuts of chicken breasts deep-fried after being marinated with pepper and red chillies, topped with a curry leaf tempering that gave it a South Indian touch. This innovation was good, though very high on calories and very bad for my steadily widening frame.

All the hotels have Olympic decorations festooning their restaurants and menu cards, which have big names from the big games. They also have place-mat contests. Indians may well do better at winning these, than the real Olympics.